HP's TouchPad, Phones Will Compete with iPad, iPhone

Hewlett-Packard's TouchPad tablet and two new webOS phones will compete in a crowded marketplace against Apple's iPad and iPhone, as well as Google Android devices.

Hewlett-Packard whipped back the curtain Feb. 9 on a new
family of devices it hopes will not only compete against Apple's iPad and
iPhone, but begin fulfilling new CEO Leo Apotheker's mission of making the
company "cool."
The centerpiece of HP's San Francisco presentation, the
9.7-inch TouchPad, will hit store shelves this summer at an undisclosed price.
As with the two smartphones introduced alongside it, the TouchPad utilizes the
webOS operating system, part of the assets inherited during HP's $1.2 billion
purchase of Palm last summer.

The TouchPad weighs 1.5 pounds, offers either 16GB or 32GB
of built-in memory, and is powered by a 1.2GHz dual-core Snapdragon processor,
faster than many of the tablets currently scheduled to hit the market. As with
other tablets, the TouchPad is being marketed as an all-in-one device, capable
of running apps and games, displaying e-books and periodicals, and Web-cruising
with Adobe Flash 10.1 and HTML5 support.

The TouchPad will also boast integration with smartphones running
webOS, along with video calling. HP executives at the conference also
demonstrated HP's two new webOS smartphones, the Pre 3 and the Veer. The latter
is an ultra-slim device with a rounded shape reminiscent of the original Palm
Pre, and equipped with a 2.6-inch touch-screen. Despite that size, it includes
some full-size features including a 5-megapixel camera and 8GB of built-in
memory.
The Pre 3 is heavily reminiscent of the Palm Pre, with a
3.6-inch screen, sliding QWERTY keyboard and a notably powerful 1.4GHz Qualcomm
processor. HP plans on offering the device in HSPA+ and EVDO.
Although the acquisition of Palm and integration of webOS
began before Apotheker stepped in as CEO,
the new devices play into his assertion that HP needs to figure out ways to
appeal to consumers. "I hope one day people will say -this is as cool as HP,'
not -as cool as Apple,'" he
told the BBC earlier in February.
The TouchPad faces a dynamic and competitive marketplace for
tablets. In addition to the Apple iPad, which continues its massive sales run,
a number of HP rivals seem intent on flooding the market with Android-based
tablets such as the Dell Streak 7 and Motorola Xoom. Unlike Apple or Google,
however, HP faces the additional challenge of building a substantial apps
ecosystem, in order to compete with the Apple's App Store and Google's Android
Marketplace. The latter two online bazaars each feature hundreds of thousands
of apps.

Nicholas Kolakowski is a staff editor at eWEEK, covering Microsoft and other companies in the enterprise space, as well as evolving technology such as tablet PCs. His work has appeared in The Washington Post, Playboy, WebMD, AARP the Magazine, AutoWeek, Washington City Paper, Trader Monthly, and Private Air. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.